Aveley is a small town within the Thurrock District in Essex, England (a unitary authority since 1998) and one of the traditional (Church of England) parishes in Thurrock. It is a suburban development located 16.3 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross (a point of measurement for the centre of London) and within the eastern bounds of the M25 motorway. Aveley is roughly bounded to the north and west by the London Borough of Havering, to the south by the A13 road and to the east by the M25 motorway. The estimated population from the 2011 UK census was 9,000.

A nineteenth century description

"AVELEY, a village and a parish in Orsett [registation] district, Essex. The village stands adjacent to the Purfleet station of the Tilbury railway, near the Thames, 7 miles SE of Romford. It has a post office under Romford, and a fair on Easter-Monday; and was formerly a market town. The parish comprises 2,934 acres of land, and 105 of water. Real property: £5,944. Population: 930. Houses: 195. The property is not much divided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value: £266. Patron: the Bishop. The church is very old. There are an Independent chapel and a national school."